Reinforced collapsible file casing



March 8, 1938. s. SCHEINMAN ET AL REINFORCED COLLAPSIBLE FILE CASING Filed Oct. 10, 1956 March s, 1938. s. SCHEINMAN ET AL 2,110,556

REINFORCED COLLAPSIBLE FILE CASING Filed Oct. 10, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 8, 1938 PATENT OFFICE REINFORCED COLLAPSIBLE FILE CASING Sol Scheinman,

White Plains, and Jacob Mandel,

Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application October 10,

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to collapsible files which are adapted to be shipped in collapsed or knocked-down condition of the type consisting of a shell or casing and a drawer member movable therein, and more specifically, to the construction of the casing member of such file.

It is an object of the invention to provide a file casing member which is composed essentially of paper or other light and inexpensive fibrous or other material but is reinforced in such manner that it can withstand the weight of a number of filled storage files stacked above it.

In particular, it is an object of our invention to provide a collapsible casing for files, such as storage files and even active files which is provided with metallic reinforcing members at the front open end thereof for taking up and transmitting vertical pressures or loads on the casing, and having also corner-bridging members which stiffen the casing at the corners and so prevent collapse of the casing in its erectedassembled condition, the metallic parts being so arranged on the casing that the latter can be erected and collapsed while the metallic parts retain their original mounting on the casing. I

It is a further object of the invention to' provide a collapsible file casing whose forward edges are faced with metallic membersv which, in the erected condition of the casing, cooperate with pivoted angular means to hold the casing rigidly against collapse, the metallic facing strips and the angular means being permanently mounted on the body of the casing and forming a unitary structure therewith.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a reinforcing structure for the open end of a collapsible file casing, including facing strips for the forward edges of the casing, and angular means adapted to bridge the corners of the erected casing, which remain secured to the casing during the collapsing and erecting of the latter.

Other objects of the invention are to provide one or more angular wire members for stiffening the casing at the corners which are secured to the casing, that is, are held against endwise removal from the casing; to provide a reinforcing structure composed of metallic facing strips lining the front edge portions of the walls of the casing and angular wire means cooperating therewith to hold the casing in the erected condition, the angular wire means being constructed also to aid in taking up and transmitting vertical loads on the casing; and in general to provide for collapsible file casings composed of paper or similar material, a reinforcing structure for taking up 1936, Serial No. 104,923

vertical loads on the casing and bridging the corners in the erected condition of the casing which is completely collapsible with the casing without detachment of any part thereof from the casing.

In this preferred form, therefore, our invention thus provides' a reinforced collapsible casing which is supplied to the consumer in knockeddown condition with both the front edge facing members and the corner bridging members secured to the collapsed paper body of the casing in a manner insuring against loss or deformation of any of the reinforcing parts, to the making it simple and convenient for'the consumer to erect the casing at the place of use.

The present application is a continuation in part of our copending applications Ser. Nos. 666,- 895, filed April 19, 1933 and 14,518, filed April 3, 1935.

Several satisfactory embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example on the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a casing built in accordance with the invention, the casing being shown in the erectedcondition in which it is adapted to receive a drawer of any suitable kind;

Fig. 2 shows the casing of Fig. 1 in the partly collapsed condition;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the manner in which the angular'wire member is moved into engagement with the vertical reinforcing member upon erection of the casing;

Fig. 4 represents a front view in elevation of part of the reinforcing structure and shows the manner in which the vertical portions of the upper and lower corner-bridging memberspare brought into engagement in the erected condition of the casing to assist in supporting vertical loads on the latter; 1 t

Fig. 5 illustrates a horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention in which the corner bridging means is in a form of a single wire loop engaging certain of the reinforcing members 'at the front thereof;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section through the reinforcing structure of Fig. 6;

Figs. 8 and 9 are views similar to Figs.'6 and 7,

. but show a form of the invention in which the wire loop engages certain of the reinforcing members at the rear thereof; and

Fig. 10 represents an enlarged section taken along the line ill-l0 of Fig. 8. Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, the casing member is composed generally of a top wall 10, a bottom wall ll, side walls l2 and I3 and an end wall l4 composed of flaps Ha, I 412, etc. extending from the top, bottom and side walls, as is well understood in the art. The walls H], to M are preferably formed of an integral sheet of relatively light, inexpensive fibrous material, such as corrugated paper board, fiber board, etc., the sheet being provided with scorings l5 along which the walls may be folded and collapsed for shipment or storage, or moved pivotally into the erected position when the casing is set up for use. The free ends of the blank of paper material may be secured by means of a tape l6 extending longitudinally of the casing, while the flaps constituting the rear end wall l4 may be secured by a tape H. In the knocked-down condition of the casing, the tape H is preferably secured along one of the parts of the rear wall I 4, for example, the fiap Mb, as shown in Fig. 2.

The edges of the walls in, ll, [2 and I3 at the front, open end of the casing are reinforced with metallic facing members which act to relieve the relatively weak side walls of the paper body of vertical loads'on the casing and at the same time give the front portion of the casing a neat, finished appearance. The front edges of the top and bottom walls l0 and H are provided with metallic binding strips I1 and i 8 which are permanently secured to such walls in any suitable manner, preferably by a positive interlock with the paper body of such walls by means of lugs or teeth struck from such metallic members and biting into such walls, as shown at IS. The members I1 and I8 are roughly of U-shape and at their forward portions they serve to receive pivotally the central horizontal portions of two U-shaped corner-bridging members 20 and 2|, such U-shaped members 20 and 2| being freely rotatable upon the members I! and I8 respectively, but being secured against removal from the casing, as by an endwise movement, by reason of the fact that the legs of such U -members engage with the ends of the reinforcements H and I8.

The side walls l2 and I3 of the casing are provided with vertical reinforcing members 22 and 23 which are secured to the casing in any suitable manner, as by means of the teeth l9. These reinforcements 22 and 23 take up vertical loads on the casing and prevent buckling or distortion of the side walls of the latter. They are also adapted to cooperate with the angular members 20 and 2| to hold the casing rigidly with its walls in their predetermined angular relation upon erection of the casing, and to such end the vertical members 22 and .23 are shaped so as to provide a vertically extending recess or groove 24 in the-erected position of the side walls for receiving the vertical legs of the U-shaped wire members 20 and 2|. The vertical members 22 and 23 are preferably so shaped that the aforementioned legs fit snugly against the walls of the recesses or grooves, thereby contributing to the rigidity of the assembled structures.

As shown in Figs; 1, 3 and 4, the legs of the U-shaped, corner-bridging wire members 20 and 2i are of such length that they meet or come very close to meeting within grooves 24. It is not absolutely essential that the ends of the wires actually contact with each other in the unloaded condition of the casing, although such construction is preferred; a slight gap between the ends of the opposite wires in the unloaded. condition of the casing will normally be taken up by a slight settling or contraction of the casing when it is subjected to a vertical load, the wires being then brought into engagement. The engagement of these wires within the grooves 24 makes such wires capable of transmitting at least part of the vertical loads on the casing and contributes greatly to the strength and rigidity of the struc-' ture. Obviously, the wires maybe made strong enough to stand the whole load on the casing and any suitable means other than the vertical members 22 and 23 may be provided to hold them in alignment in the erected condition of the casing; and while we have referred to the members 20 and 2i as wire members they obviously can be made of any other structural form, and may be composed in whole or in part of sheet metal suitably shaped to possess the necessary degree of rigidity.

The manner of erection of the casing will be readily understood from the drawings. From the fully collapsed condition, the casing is erected by causing the walls to hinge along their fold lines IS, the casing passing through the partially erected condition shown in Fig. 2 until it reaches the right-angular condition shown in Fig. l. The angular wires 20 and 2i are then swung forward- 1y as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 until they are received within the grooves or sockets of the vertical members 22 and 23. It will be noted that the articulated sheet metal reinforcing structures l1, I8, 22 and 23 remain attached to the casing during the erection of the latter and that the angle wires are brought into position for cooperation with the vertical members 22 and 23 for holding the erected casing rigid while the members 22 and 23 retain their original attachment to the casing and without removal of such members from the casing. To collapse the casing it is necessary only to bring the legs of the wire U- members out of engagement with the vertical members 22 and 23, whereupon the casing can be 23 from the casing. These members can thus be permanently secured to the casing and the knocked-down casing can be supplied to the customer as a single unit which requires no detachment of any part for its erection.

It will be understood that in the erected condition of the casing the rear, side flaps Ma will be folded inwardly and the top and bottom flaps Mb will then be folded over the side flaps, the tape I! being employed to connect the top and bottom flaps to each other and to the side walls l2 and I3, as is indicated in Fig. 1.

The horizontal members I! and I8 are preferably made to overlie and underlie, respectively, the vertical members 22 and 23, as indicated at 23a and 23b, as much as possible without interfering with the collapsibility of the sheet metal frame work, the vertical members being brought as near as practicable to the horizontal members so that in the loaded condition of the erected casing, the load is transmitted by the upper hori-- zontal member to the vertical members either directly or at most through only a short section of paper.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the bottom and side reinforcing members I8, 22 and 23 may be constructed similarly to the corresponding members of Figs. 1 to 5; the upper horizontal member Ila, however, is constructed similarly to the side reinforcing members 22 and 23, being shaped to'present a recess 24a for the reception of a corner bridging member. This member is in the form of a more or less continuous wire loop 25 which is hingedly mounted upon the bottom reinforcing member l8, and.

in the erected position of the walls is adapted to be received within the recesses or grooves in the members 22, 23 and Ila. As can be seen from Fig. 6, the wire loop member 25 is continuous in the vertical direction and aids in supporting a load on the casing. If desired, one or more of the members 22, 23 and Ila may be provided with a cutout 21 for facilitating engagement of the wire member should it be desired to swing it into the inoperative position, prior to collapse of the casing. As in the constructions shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the form of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7 likewise embodies the feature thatthe articulated reinforcing framework, together with the corner bridging means, is permanently secured to the casing.

The reinforcing members 22, 23 and Na are preferablyso shaped that they snugly receive the, wire member 25. If desired, suitable detents or clips may be provided to insure retention of the wire member in the assembled position.

The structure shown in Figs. 8, '9 and 10 is similar in principle to that shown in Figs. 6 and '7,

, cured to the body of the casing by means of teeth I9 struck from such member. The side members 28 and 29 and the top member 3|], however, are constructed somewhat differently from the corresponding parts of Figs. 1 and 6, being composed of an outer leg '3! (Fig. 10), a smooth, intermediate portion 32 which neatly faces the front end edges of the side and top walls, and an inner leg 33 which is spaced from the inner surface of the casing wall by a distance corresponding to the diameter of the wire loop member. The latter,- shown at 34, is pivotally mounted, and held against removal, within the bottom reinforcing member I8, and in its inoperative position lies flat upon the bottom wall of the collapsed casing. Upon erection of the casing, the loop member is swung, as indicated in Figs. 8 and 9, until its side and top portions are received in the recesses or sockets between the legs 33 and the walls of the casing.

As only one of the legs of each of the reinforc- -ing members 28, 29 and 30 bears against a wall of the casing, we prefer to rivet such leg to the casing, as shown at 35 so as to anchor the members more securely.

, Variations from the specific forms of the invention described herein may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus,

while our improved reinforcing structure is shown and described as associated with a collapsible paper casing, it can be employed also with a collapsible sheet metal casing, the sheet metal being of thin gauge and the walls being strengthened, if desired, by the formation of ribs or corruga tions thereinor by folding the metalon itself at spaced points to produce columns of increased compressive strength. The parts of the casing forming the different walls may be connected together in any suitable manner that will permit the convenient erection of the casing by the consumer; thus the casing may be composed of plates which are hinged to each other in any suitable way, as by means of piano hinges. The reinforcing frame with the cooperating angular wire memj ber-or members can be secured to the front end portions of the collapsible metallic casing in any suitable way, as by welding, soldering or riveting. To give the walls greater bulk, one or more thicknesses of corrugated or other paper board may be secured to the inside surfaces of certain of the casing walls. Instead of employing an articulated reinforcing framework as described herein, the collapsible'sheet metal casing may be provided with a unitary more or less integral frame, preferably hingedly mounted upon one of the walls, as shown in the copending application of Sol Scheinman, Ser. No. 80,147.

As already indicated, the casing described herein is intended to be used with a drawer of any suitable construction, for example, as shown in the patent to $01 Scheinman and Jacob Mandel, No. 2,012,857. The drawer may, however, like the casing described in thepreceding paragraph, be made of hingedly connected sheet metal plates, the front, rear and side walls of the drawer being hinged in any suitable manner to the bottom wall and being held in the erected condition by any suitable locking means, such as pins passin through aligned openings or sockets at the adjacent ends of contiguous walls. To reduce cost and weight, the plates are made of thin gauge metal which may be reinforced by folding the metal on itself at spaced points to produce columns or bands of triple thickness and the .walls may be lined with corrugated or other paper board to-give them greater bulk.

If desired, the vertical reinforcing members 22 and 23 may be permanently attached to or be integral with one of the wire members,- or be divided and be secured to the opposite wire legs of Fig. 1, the vertical reinforcing members being then not permanently secured to the walls which structure is still a unitary structure, no parts being detached from the casing to enable the latter to be erected or collapsed.

We claim:

1. A collapsible file casing adapted to receive a horizontally movable drawer and comprising top, bottom and side walls composed essentially of paper material, reinforcing members permanently secured to the front edges of the walls, U-shaped wire members secured in pivotal relation upon the reinforcing members of the top and bottom walls, the free legs of said wire members being movable into position for cooperation with the reinforcing members of the side walls to hold the casing rigid at the corners, said legs being of such length that the adjacent legs of the opposite U-shaped members are brought substantially into contact in the erected condition of the casing so that upon subjecting the casing to compressive nently secured to the casing and arranged to permit collapsing and erection of said box structure by pivotal movement of the walls of the casing about said hinge portions, and fastening means.

pivotally secured to a pair of opposite walls and releasably interlocked with said metal strips on adjacent walls without detachment of said strips from the casing,

3. A casing having an open front end and comprising a bottom wall; side walls; a top wall; said walls being made of sheet material having parallel fold lines along which the same is manually foldable to form said walls, said fold lines runningperpendicularly to the plane of the open end of the casing; adjacent walls being movable angularly relative to each other about said fold lines to permit the casing to be shipped in knock-down condition; reinforcing members permanently secured to the front edge portions of all of said walls and remaining attached to such walls during the collapsing and erecting of the casing said reinforcing members facing the front edges of the erected casing; an angle wire, one leg of which is secured to one of said reinforcing members, the other leg of said Wire protruding from said reinforcing means, said ,angle wire being rotatable on said secured leg, when the walls are in erected, right-angular relation, into position to be engaged and held against displacement by the reinforcing member of the adjacent edge for maintaining said adjacent walls in rigid angular rela tion.

4. A casing member of the class described, comprising a quadilateral box-like structure having a body formed of an integral blank of non-metallic material scored along certain portions serving as corner edges, said body having the forward end margins thereof faced with metal strips permanently secured to the casing and arranged to permit folding and unfolding of said box structure along said scorings, and means engaging the marginal metal strips for holding the walls of the casing member rigidly in righ-angled relation, the facing strips upon the side walls being provided with open recesses, said means comprising angular wire members pivoting upon the facing strips at the top and bottom walls and movable into the recesses, the portions of the wire fitting within the recesses being of such length that when a load is placed upon the casing, the ends-of the wires. in each side metal strip are in contact, at least part of the load being thus transmitted by the wires.

5. A casing member constructed to receive a drawer member and comprising an open-ended quadrilateral box-like structure having a body formed of hingedly connected bottom, top and side walls, the hinges running parallel to each other and perpendicularly to the plane of the open end, said body having all of the forward end margins thereof provided with metal facings secured thereto, said casing member being collapsible and erectible along the hinge connections and said metal facings being secured to the body of the casing and remaining secured to the casing, in their operative erected casing manner, during the collapsing and erecting of the casing, and angular members bridging the corners of the erected casing and interlocking with the marginal metal strips for holding the walls of the erected casing member rigidly in right-angled relation.

6. A casing as set forth in claim 2, wherein said means comprise wire members pivoted upon certain of the facing strips and movable, while the walls of the casing are in their erected rightangular relation, into position for interlocking engagement with the other facing strips, the latter being shaped to provide closely fitting recesses for said wire members in the erected condition of the casing.

7. A casing member of the class described comprising an open ended quadrilateral box-like structure having a body formed of hingedly connected top, bottom and side walls, the axes of the hinges being parallel to each other and all being substantially perpendicular to the plane of the open end of the casing, said body having all of the forward end margins thereof faced with metal strips permanently secured to the casing and arranged to enable the walls to be moved angularly upon their hinges with reference to each other for collapse and erection of the casing, the facing strips upon an opposite pair of walls being provided with longitudinal, forwardly open recesses, and angular wire members pivoting upon the facing strips secured to the other pair of walls and having legs swingable in the planes of said opposite pair of walls, when the walls are in erected, right-angular relation, into engagement with said recesses so as to hold the casing rigidly in its erected condition.

8. A collapsible casing member of the class described comprising an open-ended quadrilateral box-like structure having a body formed of a blank of non-metallic material scored along certain portions serving as corner edges, the scorings being normal to the plane of the open end of the casing, sheet metal strips facing the forward end portions of the top, bottom and side walls of the casing, fastening means penetrating into the body of the casing member and permanently securing the strips to the casing member, U-shaped wires pivotally supported upon the facing strips on the top and bottom walls, the strips on the side walls being formed to provide longitudinal recesses in the planes of the side walls for receiving and holding the legs of the wires in the erected condition of the casing, said wire legs being movable in the planes of the side walls, while the latter are in their erected, right-angular position, into position for confinement within said recesses wherein they engage and cooperate with the walls of the recesses to hold the walls of the erected casing rigidly in right-angled relation.

9. A knocked-down open-ended casing member constructed to receive a drawer member and havinga body formed of hingedly connected bottom, top and side walls which are movable about their hinges to the erected and collapsed conditions, the axes of the hinges being substantially normal to the plane of the open end of the casing, metallic reinforcing members permanently secured to the front edges of the portions of the casing body serving as the side walls of the erected casing, the reinforcing members of such side walls acting to take up compressive loads on the erected casing and remaining secured to the casing in the collapsed condition of the latter, in the same manner as in the erected condition thereof, the reinforcing members being formed to provide longitudinally open recesses in the erected condition of the latter, and angle member means for bridging the corners of the erected casing and having legs movable in planes parallel to the erected side walls of the casing into position for confinement within said recesses wherein they engage and cooperate with the walls of the re cesses in the erected condition of the casing, said 7 movement being effectuated without preliminary detachment of any of the reinforcing members from the casing.

10. A knocked-down open-ended casing member of the class described having a body formed of a'blank of non-metallic material scored along certain portions serving as corner edges and about which the walls of the blank may be moved angularly to the erected quadrilateral condition the scorings being normal to the plane of the open end of the casing, metallic reinforcing members at the front edges of the portions of the blank serving as the side walls of the erected casing, and shaped to provide vertical recesses in the erected condition of the casing, said reinforcing members acting to take up compressive loads on the erected casing and being permanently secured to the casing, reinforcing members facing the front edges of those portions of the blank which form the top and bottom walls of the erected casing and each extending from one surface of the associated portion and about the front edge surface to the other, U-shaped wires pivotally mounted upon their central portions within the reinforcing members of said top and bottom walls in abutting relation to the front edges of such walls and held against endwise removal from such members, the legs of said U-shaped members being swingable in the planes oi? the side walls in the quadrilateral condition of the casing and without preliminary detachment of the vertical members from the casing into position for confinement within said recesses tocooperate with the vertical reinforcing members to stiffen the casing at the corners.

11. A knocked-down, open-ended casing member adapted to receive a drawer member and having a body formed of hingedly connected sections forming the top, bottom and side walls of the erected casing, the axes of the hinges being substantially normal to the plane of the open end of the casing member, metallic anchoring elements at the front edges of an opposite pair of walls of the erected casing, angular wire members having one leg pivotally received'in the anchoring elements, another leg of each of said angular members protruding from said anchoring elements and being rotatable, on the anchored leg, in approximately the plane of the adjacent casing wall when the casing is in erected condition, the movable legs of said angular members being of such length and so disposed that the free ends of the rotatable legs of an opposite pair of angular members are substantially in contact in the erected condition of the casing, whereby said angular members are enabled to transmit at least a part of a superposed load on the easing and means associated with the movable legs of the angular members for holding them in position along the other opposite pair of casing walls.

SOL SCHEINMAN. JACOB MANDEL. 

